Taylor Swift tops American Music Awards nominations with eight nods

Washington: Taylor Swift has emerged as the leading nominee for this year’s American Music Awards, securing eight nominations, including artist of the year, song of the year for The Fate of Ophelia and album of the year for The Life of a Showgirl, organisers announced on Tuesday.

Swift, who holds the record for the most AMA wins in the show’s history, had received six nominations last year. The latest nominations add to another strong year for the singer, whose Eras Tour, launched in 2023, became the highest-grossing concert tour of all time.

Swift’s decision to re-record her earlier albums has also been widely seen as encouraging other artists to pursue greater control and ownership over their music.

Other leading nominees

Just behind Swift in the nominations tally are Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Dean, SOMBR and Morgan Wallen, with seven nominations each. Carpenter is also among the contenders for artist of the year.

Dean and SOMBR received their first-ever American Music Award nominations this year, including nods in the new artist of the year category.

Among the other nominees are the singers behind Netflix’s Oscar-winning animated musical KPop Demon Hunters. EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami were nominated for song of the year, best vocal performance and best pop song for Golden, which was described as a chart-topping hit from the film.

If they win in any of those categories, it would mark their first American Music Award.

Ceremony details

The winners will be chosen through fan voting and announced during a live ceremony in Las Vegas on May 25. The event will be hosted by actor and singer Queen Latifah and will be broadcast live on CBS and Paramount+.

Queen Latifah, a Grammy, Emmy and Golden Globe winner, has had a long career across music, film and television. Her body of work includes hip-hop albums as well as an Oscar-nominated film performance.

According to the organisers, the nominations were based on performance across Billboard music charts, streaming figures, album sales, radio airplay and social media engagement.

The American Music Awards remain one of the major fan-voted honours in the music industry, and this year’s nominations place Swift once again at the centre of the event’s biggest categories.